“Strong expansion before the switch to tendering”

Germany has seen a net addition of onshore wind capacity of 1,892 megawatt (MW) in the first half of 2016, the BWE and VDMA report. That is 73 percent more than in the same period in 2015 when 1,093 MW were added. Wind energy association BWE and industry association VDMA are expecting a total addition of up to 4,400 MW net in 2016 and a similar development in 2017. The increased onshore wind power additions were triggered by federal states assigning more land for wind turbines, a step-by-step decrease of the guaranteed feed-in tariffs over the coming years, and the reform of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) with the switch to auctions, taking effect in 2017. This had led to a surge of permits in order to secure the option of installing turbines with legally fixed feed-in tariffs, Matthias Zelinger, managing director of VDMA Power Systems, said at a press conference in Berlin.

Read the press release in English here.

Also read the CLEW dossier on the reform of the Renewable Energy Act.